146 ELEMENTS OF ANGLING- 



blind work, and as a rule one has to depend on the 

 hand to give notice of a rise. Still, it is as well to 

 have it in reserve, where one cannot get the light 

 for up-stream fishing or in other emergencies. 

 Taking it all in all, a warm, still evening is to be 

 desired for sedge fishing, and on such an evening 

 sport may be looked for from June till September, a 

 considerable length of time. Fortunately, or 

 unfortunately, such evenings are rare nowadays, so 

 the angler is in no danger of having too much of a 

 good thing. But even a cold evening will yield a 

 fish now and then ; it is more hopeful, I incline to 

 think, if the weather has been equally cold all day, 

 and if the temperature has not dropped noticeably 

 with the sun. This, however, is scarcely more than 

 an idea. 



The next topic is the Mayfly, an insect which 

 also rouses the enthusiasm of the largest trout in 

 the stream, and which is chiefly important for that 

 reason. In habits and appearance it is like the 

 duns, but very much larger and more noticeable, 

 and also more restricted in its season, which lasts 

 roughly from the last week in May to the middle of 

 June. The Mayfly period on any given river is 

 about a fortnight somewhere within these limits. 

 It is a common joke amongst anglers that the fly is 

 called Mayfly because it appears in June. 



